Illegitimate Use Of Mourning ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:49pm We can assume that the young people who harassed Education Minister Yuli Tamir outside the Mercaz Harav yeshiva as she emerged from there yesterday after consoling the mourners, were not sent to do so by the rabbis who head the yeshiva. And nevertheless, the unbridled incitement shouted by the youths found an echo among the national-religious leadership, its rabbis and its educators. » Read more

Gaza - What's Their Problem? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times (Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:46pm If you want a clear understanding of the explosive situation in Gaza take a look at a most informative report by the American Task Force on Palestine published last week. The report titled, "What Lies Ahead for Gaza?" is a must read.   » Read more

Israeli Intel Report Paints Grim Picture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times March 10, 2008 - 5:45pm Israel's intelligence community painted a bleak picture of threats facing the Jewish state. The report – an annual assessment somewhat similar to Washington's National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE, was delivered to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.   The report singles out Iran and Hamas as the two most pertinent threats to the Jewish State. It comes on the heels of an attack against Jewish religious students in Jerusalem last week, the worst such attack in four years.   » Read more

Fatah Must Reinvent Itself, Or Risk Irrelevance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Mouin Rabbani - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:43pm With preparations accelerating, it seems increasingly likely that Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, will hold its Sixth General Conference during 2008. Yet given the advanced state of disintegration in which the movement finds itself, it may well be a case of too little too late. Simply put, Fatah's very survival now hangs in the balance. » Read more

In The Name Of The Palestinian Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Mshari Al-zaydi - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:42pm   Question: Who is currently in control of Gaza, or rather who has been in control of Gaza until the recent Israeli raids took place? The answer: Hamas.   Next question: Who is in charge of the decision making process within Hamas, its funding and its foreign affairs? The answer: Khalid Mishal, head of the Hamas politburo and he is located in Damascus.   One last question: What or who is the major influence upon Mishal? » Read more

Israel Approves Settlement Growth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News March 10, 2008 - 5:41pm The project was first signed off in 1999, but stopped two years later after Palestinian labourers refused to go on. Israel's housing minister said the construction at Givat Zeev would address "the demographic needs of Jerusalem". But the decision provoked an angry reaction from Palestinian leaders. For the Palestinians there are few issues as contentious as the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Jerusalem. Under the terms of the peace process settlement expansion is supposed to be frozen. » Read more

Leading Article: Stop Talking, And The Militants Have Won ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:38pm It will be no consolation to Israelis to observe that atrocities such as that which killed eight young people at a religious college in Jerusalem have become rarer since the spate of suicide attacks in 2005. They will cite the controversial barrier as one reason for the improvement and note that this attack, like the last two – at Dimona last month and in Eilat almost a year ago – occurred in places that were vulnerable. The divided city of Jerusalem remains one such place, despite much overt security.   » Read more

Hamas Wages Iran’s Proxy War On Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Marie Colvin - March 10, 2008 - 5:37pm The Hamas commander was in a hurry. Hunched forward in a navy-blue parka, with the wind-chapped skin and drawn eyes of someone who had been outdoors all night, he had just returned from the front line with Israel. The whine of drones overhead signalled that his enemy was hunting for blood. For someone who had survived the fiercest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2000 and the deaths of scores of his fellow fighters, the commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, appeared remarkably composed. » Read more

Jerusalem Struggles To Maintain Its Balance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 10, 2008 - 5:34pm When an Arab from East Jerusalem killed eight people at a Jewish seminary, it endangered the fragile fabric of life in a city where people divided by distrust have nonetheless managed to get along. The shooting was a shock to many Jerusalemites, not only because it followed a long period of relative quiet, but also because even in the peak years of Palestinian suicide bombings, the Arabs of East Jerusalem were largely bystanders. In the aftermath, the city's Jews fear for their safety, while Arabs are wary of a backlash. » Read more

Abbas Says Peace Efforts With Israel Must Go On ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 10, 2008 - 5:34pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday peace efforts with Israel must move forward, despite an especially bloody spate of violence capped by a deadly attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. Abbas also reiterated his support for Egypt's efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. In a speech marking International Women's Day, Abbas said, "Despite all the circumstances we're living through and all the attacks we're experiencing, we insist on peace. There is no other path." » Read more